Legacy: Metagame Review - Late 2024!

Greetings, Legacy friends! Now that we reviewed Duskmourn, it's time to look at how the metagame has been, considering we've had enough time to assimilate how the Grief ban affected the format.

Though many still felt Scaminator would cease to exist without this powerful black creature (and, indeed, the "Scam" part did disappear), what happened is that this deck only turned into Frognator and carried on leading the format. Furthermore, Psychic Frog is still carrying several archetypes on its back, and decks like Dimir Tempo conquered more space.

It is true that Legacy is a bit more balanced now than before the ban, when, for many weeks, Scaminator's win rate was over 40% in some online tournaments. However, the meta will most likely start to orbit this terrible MH3 Frog, and cards like Pyroblast will become more common in main decks.

But let's get to the point - let's rank all archetypes!

(Note: This is a subjective review, but we considered data we collected from various sources, so you'll see an estimate of how popular each archetype is based on that data.)

Reanimator (Frognator) – 17%

When you ban one of the most important cards in the deck at the top of the tiers, and it still leads the stats, you can be sure this is a sign the format is still quite problematic.

Though we can no longer play Grief + Reanimate on turn 1, this list still includes a strong aggressive game plan with Psychic Frog and Wasteland as support. Nonetheless, you can still swap gears and put a big creature in play as early as turn 2, be it with Entomb or with Troll of Khazad-dûm's ability. This troll, in turn, also makes this deck resilient against Blood Moon effects as a bonus.

Eldrazi Aggro – 10.75%

Modern Horizons 3 brought back from the limbo the colorless Eldrazi threat. With Kozilek’s Command, Devourer of Destiny, Glaring Fleshraker, Sowing Mycospawn, It That Heralds the End, Nulldrifter, and Wastescape Battlemage, the list abandoned a good portion of its obsolete shell from before and has conquered expressive results. It can also put on pressure since the very first turn, but can no longer disrupt the enemy game plan.

However, it will most likely not get any new cards from the next sets, so its status in the upcoming months should change.

Dimir Tempo – 6.75%

Dimir Tempo, the second-strongest deck in Legacy that uses Psychic Frog, also plays Reanimates and embraces many principles that made good and old Delver one of the most influential decks in this format. It includes Wasteland, Daze, and Murktide Regent, as well as Nethergoyf, which is now your main 1-drop.

Painter – 5.75%

Moving on to the next part of the meta, we have the best well-positioned pure combo deck… or not. Though its main game plan is still milling your opponent's deck all at once, you still have very efficient alternative game plans, like Urza's Saga and Lavaspur Boots. Or simply putting pressure on the opponent with Broadside Bombardiers and Phyrexian Dragon Engine.

The many copies of Pyroblasts and Red Elemental Blasts in the main deck are very helpful in a format centered around Psychic Frog.

UW/Jeskai/Bant/4c/5c Control – 4.75%

Control is dead! Long Live Control! The only common elements among these incredibly different lists are Brainstorm, Ponder, Force of Will, and Swords to Plowshares.

Still, whatever you use to win - Forth, Eorlingas!, Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student, Jace, the Mind Sculptor, Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath, Phlage, Titan of Fire’s Fury, or even Psychic Frog. The lists that want to win the attrition war and come out on top in the end have been quite resilient, which we haven't seen in Legacy for a while.

Grixis Delver – 4.25%

Though Delver's spirit is stronger in Dimir Tempo, the deck that would become the true heir is going through a tougher time, but it is still good enough to remain in the top tiers of the format.

Red Prison – 4.25%

Eldrazi in a format's tier 1 is a clear invitation for Blood Moon to leave its mark. We still haven't found the perfect list: there are lists with Chalice of the Void, Vexing Bauble, Caves of Chaos Adventurer, Goblin Rabblemaster, and lists with all of that and more. Pyrogoyf is one of the cards that stood out among the others and conquered a slot in this deck.

Nadu Midrange – 4%

Nadu, Winged Wisdom was banned in Modern because it was designed for Commander. Then, it was banned in Commander. The only format left for this little broken bird to wreak havoc is Legacy. And it has done so in two archetypes.

The first is this one, in which it is a true value machine and creates boards that are practically unstoppable after you target it and any other creature with Nomads en-Kor's ability multiple times.

Doomsday – 4%

Unlike Painter, Doomsday is, exclusively, a combo deck, and, naturally, gladly saw Grief leave Legacy. This doesn't change the fact it is one of the hardest decks to pilot, and the several Pyroblasts around doesn't make it easier.

What is interesting is that many players have decided to play the hybrid list that has access to Psychic Frog.

Cephalid Breakfast – 3.5%

This is another combo deck that conquered space in a new Griefless format - are you noticing a pattern? This deck also plays Nadu, Winged Wisdom, which is a backup plan for whenever Cephalid Illusionist isn't there to mill your deck all at once.

Forge Combo – 3%

Ironically, Glaring Fleshraker not only buffed Eldrazi decks, but also gave it a combination of engine with kill condition through Mystic Forge, The One Ring, and Paradox Engine. These colorless spells create Tokens, which in turn create more mana and deal 1 damage to the opponent. All of this in a deck that only plays colorless spells.

The fact Null Rod still exists is one of the factors keeping this deck under control.

Death & Taxes – 2.5%

Thalia, Guardian of Thraben and friends are still a relevant presence in the format, and their many disruption effects still align well with the fact several combo decks have risen in popularity.

Gruul / Boros Initiative – 2.25%

Boros Initiative, one of my favorite archetypes, was heavily suppressed by Grief: after one of their Initiative creatures was discarded and Reanimated on turn 1, it was practically an instant K.O.

Since Grief was banned, this deck still hasn't bounced back.

Right now, the Gruul version has begun to stand out and conquered more results. As most of the metagame websites tend to group both archetypes together, reviewing the details is a bit challenging, but the combination of the two versions is enough to keep the deck in this tier.

Stiflenought – 2.25%

The dream of putting a 12/12 in play for 1 mana still attracts a considerable number of players, but this deck lost a bit of space since its best enemies got weaker and a high number of Pyroblasts started roaming the format.

Cloudpost Ramp – 2%

Cloudpost decks, an archetype that has always been controlled by Wasteland, got a lot from MH3: Disruptor Flute, for instance, is an upgraded version of Pithing Needle, which it used before. Sowing Mycospawn is excellent in the deck, Vexing Bauble is great to stop other decks, and you can summon Kozilek's Command for 1 million mana.

Lands – 1.75%

There's nothing new to see here: this deck likes to ruin the day of aggressive decks, and then its day gets ruined by combo decks. Though it had no problem against Grief (What will it discard? Lands?), the fact that decks that struggled against this card have gained some ground, as well as Blood Moon, has been causing some headache.

Cradle Control – 1.75%

This deck, which was rising before the Grief ban, didn't enjoy the fact that combo decks have now gained the lead, considering it struggles against them.

Sneak & Show – 1.5%

Speaking of decks that struggle against Discard and Reanimate, Sneak & Show's life got a bit easier after the Grief ban, but only a little.

This deck still doesn't want to see Reanimator thriving, which is complicated, considering this deck is currently around 15% to 20% of the format.

Storm – 1.5%

It was already difficult to describe how UW (x) Control decks were built, but what is under Storm's hood is a true fruit salad: we have ANT, TES, Necrostorm, Red Storm… After all, what matters is getting a lethal spell count so that Tendrils of Agony or Grapeshot destroys your opponent's life points.

Depths – 1.5%

This Marit Lage deck, which was once one of the most influential and trustworthy decks in the format, either the Naya or Golgari version, has seen better days.

Sultai Control – 1.5%

Most lists in this archetype are the good, old Sultai Beans, which creates value with Up the Beanstalk and Murktide Regent, Force of Will, and Murderous Cut. Other lists create attrition value with Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath.

However, what you'll find in all of them is Psychic Frog, Fatal Push, and a Blue trio: Brainstorm, Ponder, and Force of Will.

Monoblack – 1%

This was one of the most budget-friendly decks in the format, but, unfortunately, its strategy relies a lot on Grief. It still hasn't recovered since it was banned.

Oops, All Spells! – 0.75%

The most "all-in" deck in the format got new tools, namely the (MDFC) MH3 Lands/Spells, which allow this deck to have a critical mass of lands without compromising its strategy. One of its new toys is Jack-o'-Lantern.

Maverick – 0.75%

This is, and will ever be, one of the fairest decks in an unfair format.

Elves – 0.75%

Some players simply decided they no longer care about Orcish Bowmasters and that they'll use their Elves either way.

Dredge – 0.5%

What is dead may never die… There will always be someone willing to play the unusual Dredge game plan.

8-Cast – 0.5%

The higher the climb, the greater the fall. 8-Cast was once of the biggest archetypes around, both in popularity and win rate, but it is now just a shadow of what it was.

This time we covered 27 archetypes, and around 90.75% of the format. The Grief ban was truly impactful, but not enough to knock out Reanimator from the top of the meta. The current problem has a name, and really long legs and tongue: Psychic Frog, which is absolutely dominating the format. It is practically invulnerable to damage-based removal and has created an effect that usually is a sign of ill health for this format: the addition of Blasts (Pyroblast // Red Elemental Blast) in the main deck.

I don't know when Wizards of the Coast will act again, but I believe this Frog will most likely face the Ban Hammer when they do.

In general, the meta isn't bad, as it is quite varied, but Frognator's dominance is reaching levels we don't often see in Legacy. The Grief version conquered stats I truly don't remember seeing in this format before.

Which of these decks do you think is the strongest? Tell us your thoughts in our comment section below!

Thank you for reading, and see you next time!